Culburra Beach Golf Course – Presentation to IPC – 19/7/18 Members of the IPC, Thank you for your time today to brief you on the proposed golf course at Culburra Beach. In making this presentation, I assume the members of the Commission are familiar with the Department of Planning and Environment ’ s Assessment Report. I will provide a very brief overview of the project and then will talk the Commission through the key issues raised by DPE, which they have used to justify their recommendation to refuse the DA. Before talking about the technical merits of the proposal, I would like to outline to the Commission the background to the decision to create a high-quality golf facility on the subject land. Warren Halloran, through his family companies, has had a long held passion for the township and people of Culburra Beach. WH’s father , Henry, created the township of Culburra Beach in the 1920’s and since that time the family has been a great benefactor to the town and the wider Shoalhaven by providing land and other donations for significant community facilities. WH, who is now in his early 90’s, had a desire to provide an additional community facility in the form of a golf course, which would provide opportunities for leisure, recreation and employment for members of the local community, and would draw others from the wider community to support local businesses in Culburra Beach. With respect to technical issues, the assessment of this application really comes down to two key issues - the impacts on flora and fauna and the impacts on water quality in Lake Wollumboola. Whilst, these are separate issues at one level, they are also closely related. Generally, all other issues are secondary to these two primary issues. In light of this, it is my view that the Commissions ’s decision will be based upon the rigorous scientific approach to flora/fauna and water quality that has been presented by us in this DA or it will be based on the unchanging views of government officers irrespective of the evidence placed before them. The DPE ’s AR continues to refer to the Planning Proposal that The Halloran Trust is pursuing and recommends deferring development decisions until the Planning Proposal is complete. However, the DA that is before the Commission today requires a decision at this time. The Site and Lake Wollumboola Show Figure 1. The site containing the proposed golf course is approximately 196Ha in area. The golf course occupies approx. 18% of that site being approximately 36Ha, with the balance of the site beyond the golf course being retained for conservation purposes which totals approximately 160Ha. The site adjoins Lake Wollumboolla, which has been identified by NSW Government to be a sensitive waterbody. Whilst it is acknowledged that the majority of the Lake’s catchment is bushland, it is worth drawing to the attention of the Commission that approximately 75Ha of the residential area of the township of Culburra Beach containing over 550 dwellings + a primary school drains into Lake Wollumboola without any real stormwater treatment. Page 1
Despite this urban development within the L ake’s catchment, Lake Wollumboola maintains its high ecological value. The site itself is characterised by a broad ridge running in a NW/SE direction from Culburra Rd to Long Bow Point on the edge of Lake Wollumboola. The SW side of the ridge drains to Downs Creek whilst the NE side of the ridge drains to Wattle Creek, both SEPP14 wetlands. The site has been quite heavily disturbed in the past and contains significant cleared areas which have been utilised in the proposal as far as is possible. Where these cleared areas are not fully utilised, it is proposed they are rehabilitated and revegetated. The site now contains significant regrowth. It is heavily vegetated in some areas with vegetation that has been classified by Cumberland Ecology to be in “moderate to good” condition. The Proposal The proposal includes: • An 18- hole “championship” golf course designed by the well-respected James Wilcher from “ Golf by Design ” ; • A golf practice area including a driving range, chipping green and putting green; • Maintenance facilities; • Amenities; • A carpark and access road including a safe intersection with Culburra Rd; • Water management facilities; • Landscaping; • Identification of an area for the provision of a future clubhouse; and • A significant area of preserved vegetation of 160Ha around the golf course site; The proposal requires the removal of 32.4Ha of native vegetation, which does include small areas of the threatened ecological communities Swamp Sclerophyll Forest on Coastal Floodplains and Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest. The proposed use is permissible on the land, and apart from a small track and a bridge across Downs Creek, the proposal avoids all areas of 7(a) Environment Protection “A” (Ecology) Zone. The proposal is setback a minimum of 140m from Lake Wollumboola, which provides an excellent vegetated buffer to the waters of the Lake. The Key Issues In its assessment of the proposal, DPE has identified three key issues which it has based its recommendation to the Commission upon. These issues are: 1. Water Quality; and 2. Flora/fauna 3. Statutory and Strategic Planning I will address each of these issues in turn. 1. Water Quality It was identified from the very start of the design development for the golf course that water quality impact on Lake Wollumboola and the adjoining SEPP14 wetlands were likely to be the single most important issue for the proposal. At this point in time, this is still my view. Page 2
Surface Water In light of the significance of this issue, Martens have designed best practice WQ facilities for the golf course on the basis the proposed land use is “agriculture” which is a signif icantly higher pollution load than the proposed golf course resulting in the WQ modelling being significantly conservative. All areas of the proposed golf course (except for a small area of 1.3Ha) will drain to one of 13 constructed wetlands which will collect and treat surface runoff. Treated stormwater from 12 of the wetlands will be harvested and stored in a central irrigation storage dam. Irrigation of the golf course will be sourced from the storage dam. A stormwater model was prepared in MUSIC to simulate the proposal. The MUSIC model has been developed to be 100% consistent with the current NSW MUSIC modelling guidelines. In all catchments, the measure of “NorBE” has been met with reductions in all pollutants entering Lake Wollumboola. There is a slight reduction of 41ML/year in surface runoff from the site. This is all outlined in the various Martens WQ reports. Martens concludes that the proposed golf course will not adversely affect surface water runoff from the site or entering either SEPP14 wetlands or Lake Wollumboola. Ground Water A number of groundwater bores have been drilled across the site to allow an analysis of the groundwater issues to be undertaken. Laboratory testing of groundwater samples has also been carried out along with rock coring and packer testing of the rock to determine groundwater permeability. Groundwater in low lying areas of the site was found at shallow depths of 0.3 to 0.7mbgl. Groundwater was significantly deeper along the ridge top and side slopes. The regional groundwater table is located within unweathered siltstone rock underlying the site. The siltstone has very low permeability which results in any surface water entering the regional groundwater system at a very low rate. It is therefore concluded that the dominant groundwater route is through shallower unsaturated soil being clay and weathered siltstone. A groundwater model was prepared in ReCycle to simulate the proposal. The model indicates an increase in site seepage to groundwater of 40ML/year, with corresponding reductions in pollutant (TN/TP) concentrations. These modelled concentrations are lower than the measured groundwater concentrations. Martens concludes that the proposed golf course will not adversely affect groundwater beneath the site or entering Lake Wollumboola. Martens also reviewed the 2013 Scanes report and its supporting data which is claimed by Government Agencies to be an excellent example of a document that confirms that Lake Wollumboola is heavily dependent upon ground water flows and anything in the catchment of Lake Wollumboola will cause irreparable damage to the lake. Martens review of the Radon data concludes: • There are critical methodological flaws in the original field investigations; • There has been incorrect and inconsistent data reporting; and • There has been a lack of analytical assessment of the results. Page 3
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